When to escape the US

[c1ue]

Re: When to escape the US

Ouch I wouldn't wish being Fresno on any place.

But the CA foothills are good for that too - just move further up in elevation...

[*T*]

Re: When to escape the US

Iceland:
- post-oil economy
- fertile farmland if global warming unfreezes
- no standing army
- happy people
- literate (half the population have written a book)
- socially-minded (if you like that sort of thing)

[krakknisse]

Re: When to escape the US

Iceland:
- post-oil economy
- fertile farmland if global warming unfreezes
- no standing army
- happy people
- literate (half the population have written a book)
- socially-minded (if you like that sort of thing)

Don't mean to pour cold water over enthusiastic ideas. But Iceland is very, very small. The phone books are ordered by first names! It is a NATO country, but has no army or air force. They have a defence "understanding" with Norway, but no treaty. The US withdrew rather abruptly. Air protection was given to it for a time by the small air force of Norway, until France took over. Essentially, it will be (more of a) "vassal state" if things heat up. Financially, it is on the rocks:
Scandinavians unite to end Iceland's financial chaos

It is on the outskirts of everything - basically it is just a fishing economy of 250,000 people. The one thing it has going for it is that over 70% of energy is renewable.

Except for its abundant hydro-electric and geothermal power, Iceland lacks natural resources; historically its economy depended heavily on the fishing industry, which still provides almost 40% of export earnings and employs 8% of the work force. The economy is vulnerable to declining fish stocks and drops in world prices for its main material exports: fish and fish products, aluminium, and ferrosilicon.

If you think long term (as I think you are), then you might want to consider the Laki eruption in 1783:

The consequences for Iceland were catastrophic. An estimated 25% of the population[4] died in the famine and fluorine poisoning after the fissure eruptions ceased. Around 80% of sheep, 50% of cattle and 50% of horses died because of dental and skeletal fluorosis from the 8 million tons of fluorine that were released.

I'm not being critical of Iceland - from my part of the world we view them very favorably. Just trying to inject a dose of realism.

[c1ue]

Re: When to escape the US

More importantly, I'm REALLY unsure if Iceland can survive without imports.

Certainly the existing standard of living could not be maintained as Iceland simply doesn't have the resources.

Although there has only been one actual famine, it would have been interesting to see if more might have occurred if there hadn't been two plagues clearing the board earlier.

[krakknisse]

Re: When to escape the US

Iceland just experienced an earthquake, magnitude 6.1 on the Richter scale. Story on CNN.

Tynes said he has been speaking to residents of the towns closest to the epicenter. "They said they thought the world was coming to an end," he said. "They thought they were going to die." There have been no reports of homes collapsing, as most homes in Iceland are built to withstand earthquakes, he said.